


Sable Plumage

by Gothams_Only_Wolf



Series: Plumage [5]
Category: Jurassic Park (Movies), Jurassic World (2015)
Genre: Charlie's such a Dork, Gen, Gift Giving, She wants her own hooman to snuggle, feathers - Freeform, no seriously
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-02
Updated: 2016-06-04
Packaged: 2018-07-11 18:06:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7064455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gothams_Only_Wolf/pseuds/Gothams_Only_Wolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Barry isn't quite sure of what to do with the collection of increasingly bizzare feathers Charlie keeps giving him. She's just glad that her overtures to <i>ink-sand-spice</i> aren't being refused; she wants a human of her own.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Ink-Sand-Spice

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Macx](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Macx/gifts), [LadyRa](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyRa/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Tainted](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3381008) by [Macx](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Macx/pseuds/Macx). 
  * Inspired by [Snow Patrol](https://archiveofourown.org/works/5571916) by [Macx](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Macx/pseuds/Macx). 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It looks like Tintagel sparked the raptors again! Charlie is, uh, persistent. I guess reading Snow Patrol didn't help much either. Whoops. 
> 
> Means more fic for all of you that I'm glad to provide. 
> 
> Enjoy~

* * *

Charlie combs over her kills, painfully selecting the biggest and prettiest feather from each of them with her claws. She noses the cache under her pile of hay in the paddock designed for her and her sisters. Charlie knows it isn't for Owen-Alpha but _ink-sand-spice_ instead. Echo and Delta have _dust-mint-book_ and _oil-leather-salt_ as their humans. 

Blue has Owen-Alpha himself. 

He adores all of them and yet—Charlie knows he shares the extra special bond with Blue. 

So... She wants one too. 

Charlie's gone over most of the people who visit the paddock twice in her search for the perfect human and has run _ink-sand-spice_ up the tally she has each time she crosses paths with him. Blue knows the proper names for them. She'll have to ask before she runs across _ink-sand-spice_ again.

* * *

_Ink-sand-spice_ is Barry. Charlie purrs at the information she takes away from her talk with Blue. She dives for the cache when she smells him coming with dinner. 

When he sets down the food, she presents him with the tail feather of what Alpha calls a quetzal. Charlie chitters when all he does is look at the feather dangling from her mouth. Waiting for him to take it is an exercise in her predatory patience. Owen-Alpha pauses in his work to watch as she presents it again this time with a grunt of frustration. When Barry takes it, she excitedly calls out her success to Blue. 

_Ink-sand-spice_ took it!

_**Smells confused. Should try again.**_ Comes Blue's succient assessment. 

"Owen, what did I just accept?" Barry questions as he pulls his hand away slowly. 

"Can't say. All I got was your scent identifier and that Charlie should try again." Owen-Alpha shrugs as he hauls in the rest of the food. 

"Can you get her to, uh, 'say' it in raptor noises so I at least know she's talking to me?" Barry asks with a quizzical expression at the feather before he tucks it behind his ear with the tip of the quill peaking out from behind the shell of his ear. Charlie purrs at the sight, letting her person know she approves. 

"Charlie, call-sign Barry." Owen-Alpha orders her and she enthusiastically replies with a purr that draws out into a low squeal with a squeak at the end. "Her's is different so you'll be able to tell when it's her trying to get your attention." 

"What about our... old InGen over watch?" Barry inquires. 

"Girls, call-sign Hoskins." All four snarl and hiss, tapping their hunting talons to the mulch in the enclosure. "Dead." Owen-Alpha makes the hand sign for 'stop.' They settle back down, Charlie crooning at her human as he takes the feather with him.

* * *

She whines against the wire as she waits for Barry's return. It takes him a quarter moon turn before he shows again. Charlie darts for the cache again, a red feather this time, her purr turning into his call-sign. 

"Another one." He gently accepts it before tucking it behind his other ear."What are you trying to tell me?" 

She chitters quietly as she follows him until the edge, her claws flexing as he strides towards Owen-Alpha's nest. 

Charlie tamps down the spot she's in and folds herself until she's in a circle. Echo chirps and nuzzles Charlie before using her as a pillow, Delta following after a long moment. Blue only snorts out an exasperated breath at their pile but nudges Delta's hind legs away from Charlie's shoulder to curl up in the space left to her. 

Should I try again?

**Of course. _Dust-mint-book_ was not easily swayed. Nor was _oil-leather-salt_. I suspect _ink-sand-spice_ to be no different.** Echo calls softly as she yawns. **Try after more naps.**

* * *

The third is presented to Barry just before a patrol, Charlie determined to cuddle with her own human at some point. Blue has been helping her plan for more contact to show that she means no harm; it appears to be one of the biggest of human fears. She gives a staccato bark as she holds the black feather between her tough lips and a gap in her serrated teeth. 

Barry reaches out and inhales a shuddering breath as he tucks it into the pocket of his shirt. She whines quietly but leans forward, careful to keep her teeth covered. When he scratches the end of her nose she purrs and allows her third eyelid to slide over her sharp gaze. 

He pets long enough that Owen-Alpha has to tug on her bond with him. 

_C'mon Charlie._

Yes Alpha.

* * *

Barry leans against the enclosure and Charlie churrs out his call-sign quietly. It's early enough that Owen-Alpha's asleep still, the mist softening the shape of the ground. She snuffles at his shirt and then bolts for the cache of feathers, this time pulling out a smaller tail feather that's deep blue. 

"A red-legged honey creeper." This time _ink-sand-spice_ spins the shaft between his dark fingers, the color a flare against the familar sight. "What are you up to, hmm? Why the feathers?" 

She huffs as she thinks about it. Charlie shuffles a bit as she goes over the why, shrugging as the feathers just seem to suit him. 

"That's alright."

* * *

Feather number five is gifted in the pouring rain as _ink-sand-spice_ bolts for Owen-Alpha's nest. She kreels loudly in disappointment as he passes them. The water runs in rivulets as Charlie holds out the sodden pink feather. 

"Spoonbill." Barry's dull human fangs flash as he reaches for her muzzle, pressed as it is against the gaps, seemingly heedless of the danger she truely is. "I'll take good care of it." 

He spins on his heel and makes for the porch of Alpha's nest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment, complain, ect.


	2. Victory

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aww, you guys are awesome. 
> 
> Here are more feathers! 
> 
> Enjoy~

* * *

Charlie enthusiastically greets him the next time, pulling up short as he digs in his pocket for a bag with—mouse? She pads up to the thicker, wider-spaced bars as what Alpha terms Security— _firebringer-metal-wariness_ —fidgets and waits with wide golden eyes, croaking softly as he holds out the mouse. Charlie delicately snags the treat with her teeth, flinging it into the air and snapping it up before her napping sisters see it. 

The feather is nosed under the bars, a soft huff blowing it over to the other side. Barry picks it up and turns it around, the russet gleaming in the light. 

"Cattle heron," Barry's scent spikes as he brushes a fingertip along the edge of the feather. "Thank you."

* * *

Feather seven floats down from a tree that she's scratching herself against. Barry's with them and the dart gun slung across his chest mostly for show. She snaps it up, trotting over to _ink-sand-spice_ to give it to him. 

"What's this?" Barry absently scratches right at the bridge of her muzzle, the itchiest spot on all of them. She rumbles softly as he moves in short strokes followed by longer ones. "Ornate Hawk-Eagle." The barred feather is enormous, the dark markings similar to Charlie herself. Charlie's pleased that he likes it so much. 

Owen-Alpha's amusement splashes across the bond as he watches her with her choice. 

_Ink-sand-spice_ good?

_Of course._

* * *

It glitters in the late sun as Charlie approaches it, the bird making no sound as it pants in the enclosure. Blue flanks it and they herd it into the shade. Charlie scoops up some water from her area and opens her mouth to offer it to the blue-tinted bird. It dips its head in before drinking steadily. 

She holds open her mouth until the tiny thing can drink no more. Charlie pulls back and swallows what remains, leaving the bird to preen itself. When it startles because Delta rushes at it... It leaves behind a thin blue feather with a black tip. 

Blue nips and scolds their sister something fierce but Charlie has another feather to give to Barry. 

She shuffles over to where _ink-sand-spice_ leans against the bars talking to _oil-leather-salt_ and nudges her human. When he turns around, she presents the feather with a quiet trill in the back of her throat. 

"Thank you, Charlie." She purrs out his call-sign and he grins at her demand. "Turquoise-browed motmot."

* * *

Charlie runs out of feathers after Barry's ninth visit. She leaps up and catches a bird, the prey still wiggling as she plucks a single tail feather with her claws. The bird squawks something terrible so she huffs as she shifts her foot to secure it. When it tries to get away, she snarls at it. The silence is _much_ better. 

The bird's shallow breaths and Charlie's wide eyes look to Barry for confirmation. 

"Charlie... Is that a Oropendola?" 

She chitters around the yellow feather she still has in her mouth. Barry takes the feather and Charlie hisses at the bird to get it moving again. 

Charlie struts happily away after he accepts it with a shake of his head.

* * *

She churrs at the bird wading in the river, head tilting as she draws out the noise. Charlie's claws flex as she sidles closer still to her latest feather catch. 

The dark head of feathers slides into russet red on long legs as she patiently waits for the opportunity to strike. She's seen Blue do it many times, hold herself until the prey ignores her and that's when she strikes, hunting talon spread wide to pin the bird with an ullating 'tick-tick-tick-tick!' cry. This isn't to kill, not even for food really, and Charlie wastes no time in plucking a feather from the thrashing bird's wing. 

She releases it immediately, hissing at the bigger bird that appears. It puffs up but Charlie calls loudly as she draws herself up to her full height. Both flee into the air as her claws curl around her hard-won prize. 

Barry's speaking with Security when they return from patrolling the outer edge. 

Charlie waits patiently by curling her talons and claws under her in what Owen-Alpha fondly calls a 'raptor loaf.' He has yet to explain why he laughs so much when she or her sisters do it. She croons when Barry strides carefully into the enclosure and she wiggles in her spot when he sits down next to her. 

"What's this one?" He asks as she extends her left claws to reveal the sepia edge on the light yellow feather. "Jacana." 

Her tail sweeps around to curl around them both as he strokes from the tip of her muzzle to her shoulders. 

Charlie's purr is loud enough to set Alpha to laughing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment, complain, ect.


	3. From the Other Side

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last part! Barry decided he wanted to say something about how it was from the other end. 
> 
> All the feathers belong to Costa Rican bird species! 
> 
> Enjoy~

* * *

Barry's just there to see Owen when one of the raptors, not Delta, holds out a long green feather. 

He takes it and the raptors call to one another as Owen explains. 

It only gets stranger from there. 

Barry takes to keeping them in a washed-out spaghetti sauce jar in his office after the first three. 

"Some of these are endangered. Where the hell are you getting them?" asks a radar tech passing his entryway. 

Barry says with what he'd like to think is a decently straight face, "You ever try telling a 6ft velociraptor _no_?" 

When the tally hits five, he starts paying attention to her behavior. 

The inkling comes when she practically cries in raptor terms in the pouring rain, Charlie as soaked as the bedraggled pink feather she gives him. 

Each one is chosen with particular care and _only_ for him. She always makes sure he identifies it before she leaves him with the decision of what to do next. 

If he wasn't so confused about **why** she was giving them to him, he would think she was—No. 

She isn't—

Oh dear. He thinks she just might be. 

Barry's going to pester Owen when he gets back from vacation about this.

* * *

Charlie watches as she chews on one of the thick 'enrichment' bones _her_ human has brought with him. Owen-Alpha and Barry are less than three strides away from her and the pack as they talk. 

"So you're saying, in so many words, that I piqued her interest?" 

"Charlie doesn't like being left behind. She's the youngest. All of her sisters have a human they're attatched to aside from me. She just... happened to pick you." Owen-Alpha's voice is lilting with mirth as she listens. "I'm glad she picked someone who wouldn't reject her overtures outright." 

"Let me get this straight: she just wants company that isn't her sisters or you." Barry's tone makes her tail thump. He sounds pleased enough. 

And cuddles.

"... And cuddles." Alpha relays as he goes to sit in the pile of her sisters. Barry approaches her and leans against her flank as she scrapes her teeth against the bone. 

"Cuddles I can do," As Barry scratches her itchy shedding spots, she uses it as a pillow instead. 

blue?

**_Yes._** Blue's golden gaze is half-lidded as she acknowledges Charlie. 

First hunt after this, will get you _egg_. Blue was fond of them but usually not light enough to scramble up the trees the birds prefered for nesting; Charlie was. 

**_Good offer. Holding you responsible._ **

She finally has her own human to be affectionate with thanks to her sister's help. 

Blue will get as many eggs as she wants to eat if Charlie can help it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment, complain, ect.
> 
>  
> 
> **Feathers Charlie presents to Barry:**
> 
> **Quetzal**
> 
> **Scarlet Macaw**
> 
> **Toucan**
> 
> **Red-legged honey creeper**
> 
> **Spoonbill**
> 
> **Cattle heron**
> 
> **Ornate Hawk-Eagle**
> 
> **Turquoise browed motmot**
> 
> **Chestnut oropendola**
> 
> **Northern Jacana**


End file.
